If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

SEATTLE -- It seemed like just yesterday that Jermaine O'Neal was a perennial All-Star, appearing in national commercials and challenging for league MVP honors.

Three-plus years, even more injuries and numerous trade rumors later, O'Neal's stock, status and numbers have plummeted to levels not seen since he rode the bench in Portland.
O'Neal has missed 73 games the past three-plus seasons due to injuries. His latest setback is to his left knee, which required offseason surgery and has limited him to 10 games this season.
"You're always going to be open to criticism in professional sports," said O'Neal, who is averaging 13.2 points -- 11 fewer than in 2004-05. "I know people are saying I'm not the same player I used to be. I accept it because it is what it is. I've been hurt the last few years. I believe once I get over the hump, and I believe I'm going to get over it, I'm going to be the player I was before."
When O'Neal gets healthy is anybody's guess. He might play tonight at Seattle.
The Pacers are 5-1 without him this season, leading many to wonder if they would be better off without him. (They are 84-81 with him in the past three-plus seasons, 44-44 without.) Several scouts who have attended recent games suggested they are better without him because his style doesn't mesh with coach Jim O'Brien's up-tempo offense.
O'Brien and the Pacers adamantly dismiss such talk as nonsense.
"This style will help his game," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said. "He is a great athlete. The halfcourt style doesn't appeal to his athleticism. When his leg settles down, he can get back to playing his old way."
The Pacers have maintained all along that they are better when they run, but the numbers suggest they have had a difficult time mixing O'Neal's low-post scoring with their new approach. O'Neal is second on the team in assists, but the offense still slows down to get him involved.
Without him, they are averaging 108 points and have knocked off playoff teams Dallas, Denver and Washington.
With him, they have averaged 99.8 points and once lost six consecutive games. They've been held to 90 or fewer points five times this season. All five times O'Neal played, and the Pacers are 1-4 in those games.
"We've made strides as a team, but those strides will be even greater when Jermaine gets back," said O'Brien, who is coaching his first scoring post player. "We run the same offense with or without him. We run the same defense with or without him."
O'Neal spent the summer rehabbing from arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage in his left knee and getting into shape for O'Brien's offense.
He hit the first of several snags when he collided with teammate Shawne Williams in practice. Then he slipped during a preseason game. The swelling in his knee caused him to sit out most of the preseason
"I lost some confidence in my knee," O'Neal said. "I've never lost confidence in my abilities as a basketball player. That will never happen. It's all about my knee. I kind of underestimated my recovery time and the difficult part of having surgery. I thought at 29 years old I could bounce back and do things on the run. My body let me know that I can't do that anymore."
O'Neal, who has led the Pacers in scoring the past six seasons, has only been a shade of his former self this season. He lacks explosiveness to the basket. He has a hard time shooting over defenders, evident by the number of times he has had his shot blocked. O'Neal has yet to score 20 points and he's shooting a career-worst 39 percent.
His lack of production hasn't gone unnoticed.
Nuggets coach George Karl, never one to bite his tongue, earlier called Danny Granger the Pacers' top scoring option and referred to Mike Dunleavy as the "glue" to the team.
O'Neal sees validity in the criticism.
"The wear and tear wore on me mentally because I couldn't move," O'Neal said. "I haven't played anywhere near the level I'm used to playing at. That was the real reason for the team, the training staff and I got together and said I needed to step away from this, because it got more frustrating than helpful."
O'Neal is signed through 2009-10. He has the option to become a free agent after the season, but doing so would mean walking away from the remaining $43.345 million he is owed in hopes he could make more elsewhere.
O'Neal isn't concerning himself with the future, except to deliver a message to critics who insist his career is declining.
"I'm not going to be broken down," he said. "Do I believe I'm going to return to my form? Absolutely. I truly believe I'm going to return to my level."
Call Star reporter Mike Wells at (317) 444-6053.

I honestly hope he is right, but has there ever been a player that didn't think they could come back and compete? Oh, and say good-bye to any trde value JO had with this out in the open (as if GM's didn't already know) Now the PUBLIC pressure will not allow JO to be accepted in any package deals either IMO.

Last edited by indygeezer; 11-30-2007 at 08:16 AM.

If you get to thinkiní youíre a person of some influence, try orderiní somebody elseís dog around..

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

lol@"he might play tonight in seattle"...no he won't. This day to day crap is stupid. Just put him on IR let him miss the next 5 and then we'll go from there. Really it's getting stupid wondering if he may or may not play.

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

lol@"he might play tonight in seattle"...no he won't. This day to day crap is stupid. Just put him on IR let him miss the next 5 and then we'll go from there. Really it's getting stupid wondering if he may or may not play.

I agree with you on the whole day to day stuff. If he is injured, shut him down and make sure he stays home for treatment. SWill and a little Murph can fill in fine at the 4 spot.

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

I just wish he would get it. Is he not seeing what will make this team successful? We just need him to fit in with whats been working. We don't need him to be a star. If he comes back and we skid again, then what? Are we going to continue to ignore the numbers or are we going to do something about it?

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

I hope JO is right. If he truly returns to old form, he should be able to run in this system. If I were him, I'd look at dropping a little weight if possible, though. Hell, as long as he can run the floor efficiently, he should be a lot better than Murphy most nights.

In the meantime, he needs to sit out for as long as needed and not try to rush back. It does neither the team nor himself any good if he comes back again at less than 100%.

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

Just for the record...
There has been a lot of comments about JO being a 20-10 guy. His career avg is 14.4 and 7.8.

He has only been a true 20-10 guy in 02-03 and 03-04 (where he averaged 20-10 or more) while coming close in 01-02 with 19-10.5.

In 05-06 he was 20.1-9.3
06-07 19.4-9.6

The most important stat is his FG% which has never reached 50% in any season. 02-03 was his best year in that category as a Pacer with .484.
He followed that with:
.434
.452
.472
.436

This year he is at .388

To even be hovering around 20-10 has taken him a lot of shots.

His numbers from Portland (FG%) are very similar. So, even with designing the offense around him, force-feeding him the ball, etc.. it appears his FG% average has consistently stayed the same which is both a bit surprising as well as telling.

-Bball

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

lol@"he might play tonight in seattle"...no he won't. This day to day crap is stupid. Just put him on IR let him miss the next 5 and then we'll go from there. Really it's getting stupid wondering if he may or may not play.

Just as a reminder, there is no more IR. Players no longer have to go out for 5 games when they are injured or fake injured to make IR spots.

Teams can activate and de-activate players day to day to suit thier needs.

In essance they are doing what you are saying, just without officially de-activating him.

I'm kind of torn though about him staying home vs. going on the road with the team.

Looks to me like he is already doing some day to day practices so if that is the case he needs to be on the road.

As the Captain of the team he needs to be on the bench. He should be the first person off of the bench to meet the team coming off of the floor with words of encouragement and wisdom. It would be nice to see him wave a towl as well..

Now unless he need daily PT with whirlpools, etc.

Then if that is the case he should be here with the trainers, but if that is also the case then he is nowhere near ready to return.

However here is what I really truely wonder.

Jim O'Brien made a statement that Jermaine was not going to play until he could play at a high level but also (& here is the key IMO) practice every day.

You guys do realize that Jermaine O'Neal did not practice at all last season from December on? He did shoot arounds but did not scrimmage or any other exercises with the team.

That means that even after the trade, these new guys did not get to play with O'Neal except on the court.

O'Brien does not seem to be the type that will let that go.

Good for him.

Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

"O'Neal isn't concerning himself with the future, except to deliver a message to critics who insist his career is declining.
"I'm not going to be broken down," he said. "Do I believe I'm going to return to my form? Absolutely. I truly believe I'm going to return to my level.""

--------------------------------------------------------------------

This illustrates how sadly delusional JO is. I don't think he gets it. His PERSONAL "level" is not important. It's not about HIM. Its about the team and how many games they win. If he returns and averages 6 points and 3 rebounds, but the team wins every game, then this would bea GREAT success.

If he returns and averages 20 and 10, and the team loses 2/3 of their games, then this is a great FAILURE. But I don't think JO would see it that way.

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

"O'Neal isn't concerning himself with the future, except to deliver a message to critics who insist his career is declining.
"I'm not going to be broken down," he said. "Do I believe I'm going to return to my form? Absolutely. I truly believe I'm going to return to my level.""

--------------------------------------------------------------------

This illustrates how sadly delusional JO is. I don't think he gets it. His PERSONAL "level" is not important. It's not about HIM. Its about the team and how many games they win. If he returns and averages 6 points and 3 rebounds, but the team wins every game, then this would bea GREAT success.

If he returns and averages 20 and 10, and the team loses 2/3 of their games, then this is a great FAILURE. But I don't think JO would see it that way.

Interesting.

Good reading between the lines.

.

.

.

.

"I like our group of people," Ainge told USA Today. "I'm trying to teach them about basketball, and they're trying to teach me about analytics."

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

JO is an interesting case to me because I like the guy. It's his perception of what HE needs to do for the team to be successful instead of what the TEAM needs for him to do. I don't think we need his 20 points a game to be successful because it takes too many shots and compromises the team plan. I do think we need his defensive POTENTIAL. That's where he could make the most impact. I really don't think he gets that though. It's apparent he sees himself as a star and isn't going to let go of that. As far as the Wells column, sheesh - $43 1/2M . . . and might consider getting a better deal elsewhere. JO! Wise up.

The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

Create an ignore list. I know it may seem unneighborly. But you're here to talk about the Pacers, not argue with someone who's just looking for an argument. Most of the regular users on here make use (at least occasionally) of the "Ignore" feature. Just go to "Settings" -> "Edit Ignore List" and add the names.

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

Roy Munson-

It's not just J.O. There aren't many upper tier, NBA guys who
'see it that way'. It's a game where the league has promoted
individual stars and their duels over teams and their rivalries.
Not 'seeing it that way' is the unsurprising result.

Re: His best in Past? Mike Wells Indy Star

It's not just J.O. There aren't many upper tier, NBA guys who
'see it that way'. It's a game where the league has promoted
individual stars and their duels over teams and their rivalries.
Not 'seeing it that way' is the unsurprising result.

That said, it's still pretty FANtastic !

I agree. I kind of see JO as a victim of all the adulation he received during the peak of his career.